Murray grey donation

Southern Australia’s biggest single agricultural event, the Henty Machinery Field Days, has given the Murray Grey Society a $1000 helping hand towards the breed’s 50-year celebrations.

Henty Machinery Field Days chairman Ross Edwards, who has bred Murray Grey cattle commercially, announced the donation towards the grand champion bull and female at this weekend’s Jingellic Show.

The field days will also celebrate its own 50 year anniversary on September 17-19, growing from a one-day header school at the Henty showground in the early 1960s.

The not-for-profit event now attracts more than 800 exhibitors across 1200 sites and a crowd of 60,000 people.

Mr Edwards said the Murray Grey Society had been an exhibitor at the field days across the decades.

“Each year, the field days receive strong support from Upper Murray exhibitors and visitors. We would like to show our appreciation by making this donation, and supporting our region’s very own beef breed,’’ Mr Edwards said.

“No doubt, there is huge interest in the 50 years of Murray Grey history and we are proud to support this special event for Murray Grey seedstock breeders, exhibitors, commercial producers and enthusiasts.’’

Mr Edwards said large amounts of hay and grain from the mixed farming areas surrounding Henty have gone into the Upper Murray.

In turn, Upper Murray producers have been solid purchasers of hay making equipment and machinery at Henty over the past 50 years, he said.

To help celebrate the field days 50th anniversary, a sub-committee of four Riverina farmers met this week to begin planning a display of memorabilia.

Colin Wood, Bryson Terlich, Barry Scholz and Andrew Thomson will spend the next few months tracking down headers similar to the original three models displayed at the Henty one-day header school in 1961.

The models were a self-propelled CLAAS, and the power take-off models, International A8-4 and Massey Ferguson 585 (grey wheels).

Committee members hope to have the three headers on display at the field days. They have also appealed for photographs taken at the field days during the 1960s to build the collection.